To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Tag: Freedom from addiction

Where is liberty? Are you free?

In a world plagued with addiction, there is a search for freedom – true freedom; liberty from all the things that enslave us. The Bible teaches us that where the Holy Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17) and he whom the Son of God (Jesus Christ) makes free is free indeed (John 8:36).

Points to ponder:
Are you free or under bondage? In other words, do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and is He the Lord of your life, for where His Holy Spirit is, there is liberty. When we walk after the Spirit and not after our flesh, there is true liberty and no condemnation (Romans 8:1).

2 Corinthians 3:17 (KJV)
17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

John 8:36 (KJV)
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Professional Speaking :: Jesus The Janitor

While the title of this article may seem demeaning of Jesus, the God of the universe, I pray you read the entire article before drawing any conclusions. Unfortunately, Janitors are considered to be a sub-class of society because of the nature of work that they perform, but early in my career, I came to learn that we ought to respect everyone within our corporate world, for who they are in life and not necessarily for what they do for their livelihood. Infact, I would argue that a janitor is equally important, if not more, than the President of a company, because if the President does not show up to work for a day, the company may be able to still operate optimally, which cannot be said of a janitor whose absence can have some serious repercussions (soiled toilets, unclean workspaces, stench, etc.), decreasing the productivity of the workers.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the word ‘Janitor’ as someone keeps the premises of a building clean and makes repairs. When a Janitor is done with cleaning the mess in the building, there is no remanence of any mess and the building is in a state as if it was never unclean. When things don’t function properly, the Janitor fixes the broken things to make them function again. Can we consider Jesus Christ to be a Janitor then? Absolutely.

The Bible tells us that we are God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:9) and Jesus keeps our lives clean. No matter how messy our lives are or have been, Jesus’ blood washes all sin (1 John 1:7) and makes us clean. If you have had a totally messed up life and you think that you don’t stand a chance, think again (i.e., repent) for the Lord says, “Come NOW, let us reason together; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though your sins are red as crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Even adulterers, those in addictions, cheats, fornicators, the immoral, the impure, idolators, liars, murderers, and for that matter any kind of sinner (the chief of whom is me), has a chance with Jesus Christ, if they repent. Not only does Jesus, The Janitor, clean us, but he makes repairs of our life, so that we are no longer broken and no longer slaves under bondage to the former ways of our sinful lives. He mays us function again. Jesus is The Janitor.

Points to ponder:
Have you reasoned with the Lord, for he says, though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, when you believe in Jesus, for by faith (belief) and repentance is one saved and made to function again. In other words, have you been cleaned and repaired by Jesus, The Janitor?

1 Corinthians 3:9 (KJV)
9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

1 John 1:7-9 (KJV)
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I AM the Truth

The facade of the Main Building at the University of Texas (known colloquially as the UT Tower) has the inscription that stands out boldly – “Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free“. We may have heard umpteen number of sermons that expressed that the Truth shall make us free, but is that really true? I think we are missing half the point, it is not the the Truth that really makes us free, although the Truth can, but it is the knowing of the Truth.

John 14:6 records one of Jesus’ compound ‘I AM’ sayings, in which He affirmed, I AM the way, the truth, and the life. In defining ‘truth’, Jesus did not objectify it by saying, the truth is this or the truth is that, but He personified it but saying that ‘I AM’ the truth. In a world that is rife with falsity of hope, there stands one absolute, and that is Jesus, THE Truth.

In the events that unfolded leading to the crucifixion of Jesus, one of the most important questions that was asked of Jesus, but pitiable not answered was the question by Pilate, when he questioned Jesus, asking “What is the Truth?” (John 18:38). If only Pilate had waited to hear what Jesus had to said, He would have heard the response “I AM, I AM the Truth and in knowing me, the Truth, I shall set you free. Pilate, you may feel that you have control over me and my freedom, but I am the LORD of Freedom, because I am the Truth and the Truth makes those in captive free (John 8:32). I am only your captive, because God has allowed this to be. I AM the truth and there is none other. Know me and in knowing me you shall be free, free from the pressures of pleasing the Romans officials, or caving in to the peer pressures of the Jews, and free to heed to the dream/vision your wife had, which was to have nothing to do with me.”

But like many today, Pilate sadly did not wait to listen to the answer of that question – What is the Truth? In a world that is filled with addiction and bondage to sin and self, there is only one way to be free. If we need to be set free from our bondage of the flesh that is weak (though the Spirit is willing), all we need to do is know Jesus. Jesus said, you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free. He also said, I AM the truth. And so in essence, we can deduce that it is accurate to state – You shall know Jesus (THE Truth) and Jesus (THE Truth) shall make you free. He said, I AM the Truth and there is no other, none at all.

UT Tower Facade Inscription

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén